I recently cut a branch of my San Pedro and discovered some little bugs crawling around on and in the open flesh. It was hard to get a good picture of them, but there are more of these little buggers. They aren't on the actual cuttings that I took, nor do they seem to be on the rest of the cactus.

They don't seem to resemble any typical cactus pests, so does anybody know what they are? I've never had to deal with pests before so I'm unsure of what to do.

Please and thank you for any help! I know I haven't been on the Nexus in a while, but I usually come back around growing season

I've seen those things many times, they live in organic-rich potting soil and I suspect they eat fungus or something. They never seemed to hurt anything.
If you want that cut to callous up faster to protect it just point a small fan at it for half a day.

Thanks for your response, I appreciate it. Here is another look. They seem to be growing pretty quickly so that's why I was really concerned. I already cut off some of this branch because of the bugs, but then they appeared here as well. You are right, as far as I can tell they aren't hurting the plant. I've never seen this sort of thing before.

I have also seen these buggers countless times. I think they are Fungus Gnats or something very similar. Right now there's some in my cacti humidor box but they don't really DO anything, as stated above I too think they just feed on nutrient rich soil and fungi. When I open my box some fly out or stay in but Ive given up on eradicating. I think they just like moisture. Check the surface of your growing medium to see if that is where they are coming from.

Assuming that is what you're dealing with.

Looks like some type of Thrip to me, but I can't see them very well. If it's thrips they will damage your cacti, especially new growth.

Nathaniel, looks like you need to get a sharper knife - that's one rough cut!


Those critters appear to be attracted by the still-damp cut surface so if you can put your plant somewhere dry for a few days that may help.

Hmmm... what do I do to get rid of thrips? Since we're getting differing opinions, how can I verify what they are?


Yea, I know I hacked my plant

Thanks for your help, everyone. What should I do?

Those things do look similar to thrips but theyre Much larger and black, and I've never seen them hurt anything.
Thrips damage looks similar to mite damage, if you see that on the stems or little troughs of eaten flesh on the cut end then soapy water spray will kill them.
But if theyre harmless the solution is simple: name them and consider them pets

Thanks Well I hope they are harmless. The cut seems to be healing fine. I'll have to stay updated as to what is happening.

I think my cuttings are just about ready to go into pots. I've never harvested my plant before, so I'm excited to clone my own cactus!